Man-woman marriage ‘irreplaceable’ — Archbishop Sartain

The two Catholic bishops of the Archdiocese of Seattle, rebuffed in 2012 by voters on marriage equality, have taken the U.S. Supreme Court to task for failing to respect “the truth about marriage” in its decision Wednesday to overturn the anti-gay federal Defense of Marriage Act.

The high court ruling, which also cleared the way for same-sex marriage to resume in California, has consequences for religious freedom, the well-being of children and the role of marriage in society, said a statement from Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain and Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio Elizondo.

By contrast, top clergy in the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia welcomed the demise of DOMA, and put out a welcome mat for “all committed couples” to marry in the “sacred, beautiful space of Seattle’s Saint Mark’s Cathedral.”

In a statement released Thursday, Sartain and Elizondo said of the Supremes’ ruling:

“This decision has long-term significance for all people, especially children. The future well-being of our society will depend in great measure on the well-being of marriage. It is disappointing that the court has weighed in on this important public debate apparently without reference to the far-reaching consequences their decision will have.

“Children — those who have been born and those yet to be born — depend on society to support and uphold the truth of marriage, as our nation has done since its inception. And the foundational truth about marriage is that it is the only institution that unites mothers and fathers to any children that result from their union. Children need both.”

The Catholic bishops, self-proclaimed shepherds, seem to have increasingly lost touch with their flock.

State Sen. Ed Murray, partner Michael Shiosaki (l) and State Rep. Jaime Petersen: Murray, a practicing Catholic, will marry his partner of two decades in Seattle’s St. Mark’s Cathedral.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote Wednesday’s DOMA opinion, is a devout Catholic. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, that latest lawmaker to come out for same-sex marriage, is a Catholic. So are Govs. Martin O’Malley of Maryland, Andrew Cuomo of New York and Jerry Brown of California, who have championed marriage equality. Then-Gov. Christine Gregoire, a Catholic, signed this state’s marriage equality law.

Very different signals are coming from Capitol Hill, where Western Washington’s Episcopal diocese is headquartered.

The Very Rev. Steve Thomason, dean of St. Mark’s Cathedral, added his “joyful voice” to the “chorus of celebration” over the high court ruling. The Episcopal cathedral has for more than 10 years “stood as a vanguard blessing couples’ unions because it was just, long before it was popular to do so,” Thomason said in an email.

“There is a sense that the arc of justice is accelerating toward inclusion and respect and dignity for all people, and we reaffirm our commitment to this moral cause, to those who have too long been disenfranchised or treated as second class citizens,” Thomason added. He then extended a welcome mat to “all committed couples” wanting to be married at the cathedral.

State Sen. Ed Murray, a practicing Catholic, will wed his partner of two decades, Michael Shiosaki, at the Episcopal cathedral later this summer.

The Most Rev. Greg Rickel, Episcopal Bishop of Olympia, described the Supreme Court decisions as rooted in sense and fair play.

“Same sex couples have not asked for special treatment,” Rickel said in an email. “They have asked for equal treatment. They have asked that the government, and the church, put the same expectations and boundaries around their relationships as we do for heterosexual couples. This is a very conservative idea.”

Seattle was at one time, from the 1960s through the early 1990s, a center of ecumenical cooperation between denomination leaders.

The cooperation has continued among laity and some clergy, but the Archdiocese of Seattle has stood aloof since mainline Protestant denominations and prominent Jewish leaders embraced the cause of gay civil and human rights.

Nationally, a similar pattern has prevailed. The Episcopal dean of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., ordered bells rung Wednesday at the Supreme Court’s pro-equality decision. Crowds danced in the streets of San Francisco, where such congregations as Glide Memorial Church have long included gays and lesbians.

In Rome, however, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone gave an interview in which he denounced the Supreme Court for overturning “a law (DOMA) that respects and enforces the principle that it’s in the best interests of the children to be raised by their mother and their father.”